Math Journals and the 0-99 chart

I use math journals in a lot of ways. Often I ask children to record their math thinking about a group problem solving session in their journals. They also record math explorations and math game results. Recently we have been working to place numbers on the 0-99 chart.

The first day I presented the chart, I had already placed 0-16. I asked how many number cards were placed on the chart. Some students thought 16, but then someone pointed out that 0 was a number, too, so there were 17 cards on the chart. That day we placed 17 more numbers. At our next math group I turned the chart around so that they could not see it. I reminded them that there had been 17 cards on the chart to start with and that we had then added 17 more cards. How many cards were on the chart now? I asked each student to figure out the answer to the question and to show how they figured it out in their journal. Some students found a way to represent the cards in a drawing or by marks and added them up. Some used grouping by tens to help with that. Others worked with equations. Some needed a little help to talk through their process before writing it down. Some came up with the correct answer and some did not, but all were able in the end to represent the math process. The next math group we counted the cards to check our work. Those who came up with an incorrect answer were able to see what tripped them up. I told them that my goal was that everyone be able to show their math process in their journal. Everyone met that goal.